[CADavebert]

So, it's now 11:54 in the morning the next day....

I took zero pictures. But, there were MANY pictures taken. Not sure why no one else seems to have started a report thread.


So, we had the OC caravan up, with raYGunn, Lemmy_K, and myself. raYGunn's dad came along as well. We got up to the campground ok, and it was VERY cold. Hardluck was there, and had camped over night. BigDougieDoug had also arrived early. Horse Spring campground was FULL. Apparently yesterday was opening day for hunting season. OH GOODY!

GTKrocket and Biff showed up, and then FJamming, Pinky(?), and Jeshua showed up from the cabin.

We headed out, and after a brief visit to "The Hills Have Eyes" village, we were at the trail and working away. The group made VERY quick work of each item we came along. We blocked and hid side trails with rocks and wood we found in the area, posted signs, and fixed fences. At the big illegal hill climb, we put up two big wooden post signs in the middle of the illegal road.

Everything was moving along well, when we came to the area closest to the hot springs. Jeshua took a more challenging line, and a previous repair to his lower A arm busted. LOOOOONG story short, some of the group headed for home, and a few of us hung out to guard the truck while the part was welded back together in town.

I think we made it to Hisperia, all driving and no one towed or pulled, by 11:30 pm. It was cold, but I think we all had a pretty good time. Things we discovered:

• ARB X-Jack's are very cool, and this was exactly what we needed.
• There was a cool kid/guy working at AutoZone on Bear Valley Road yesterday.
• That area around the hot spring gets a bit weird and spooky at night.

My favorite part is that I now have a used once ARB X-Jack, a Trail teams water back-pack, and a blue FJ Cruisers ball cap.... SCORE! ;D (Just kidding Jesse and Tony. I'll get your stuff back to you someday.)

OK, where's the pictures? Did everyone else make it home last night?

 

[raYGunn]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

I'm glad you guys got out of there OK! Here are a few pictures, there were better ones than this but this is what I have.

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

I just got home. Slept almost all day today at my parent's place. ;D I didn't get a lot of sleep at the cabin-as nice as it was. We were busy all night trying to scare each other talking about Jason, Freddy, TX. Chainsaw Massacre, etc. So every little sound made us jump. Of course the cabin is surrounded by oak trees with very large acorn nuts...

I got to the cabin at 2:30 and Pinky and his brother rolled in at 2:50. The OHV volunteer came not long after to let us into the site. Pinky and I took off for Rausch Ranch trail (2N28?). It was fun and moderately challenging. Continuing on we arrived at Jeep Trail. I pointed out where DominicG almost died-twice ;D. It’s the day before official open season to deer hunting so the hunters were coming in and getting ready. There were quite a few scary looking characters. Some guy brought his lamas. I guess that was his preferred choice of transportation. We had a lot of fun on that trail.

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

Jeshua came at 8pm. Pinky and his brother Greg were bored and hungry (I think they just want to go out and look for some girls), so we head into Arrowhead Lake Village. The town is dead as soon as the sun sets. We made do with 7-11. Hot Pockets were the meal of choice. I still have a stash of gourmet sushi and ramens back at the cabin so I was just the driver. The area is a large campsite (North Shore) and the cabin is at the end of it. The OHV work center is also in the area so it was a very convenient place to get set up. The cabin is wonderful. Electricity, central heating, microwave, refrigerator, bathroom, 3 beds, fireplace, washer, dryer, it even has dishes and utensils. It's very comfortable. The one thing to gripe about is that it's about 1:20 min. away from Horse Springs.

Cabin

The next morning we met up with Greg at the work center. He gave us some posts, wires for fence, signs, and tools. He also showed us around the work center. The work center look like this in 1984.

The new work center looks like this:

That was constructed entirely by the efforts of OHV volunteers. Very cool huh?

Want to ride one of these to the trails? Get certified by the ranger and it’s a go!

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

We loaded up the items in Josh’s truck and headed out. It was a cool 29 degrees. 

Getting from the cabin to Horse Springs is quite a trek. Maybe there’s a shorter route, but we haven’t found it. It required us to go back to hwy 18, to Green Valley Road, Crab Flats, 3N16, and finally Coxey Truck Trail (3N34?). I was late getting to the rally point. If we didn’t have to go all the way around, Horse Springs is directly north. Crow’s fly path would be about 1/3 of the distance of what we traveled.

After a brief driver’s meeting, we headed out. Everyone had a great attitude and got to work right a way. The trail sign will soon get a make over and show that it’s been adopted by SoCal FJ Cruiser!

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

We found that it was easiest to just work on whatever issue we find instead of trying to marry up the trouble areas with what we have documented. Illegal trails were blocked by wood or rocks. We put up signs where necessary. We also had to do quite a bit of work on repairing existing fences. RayGun’s dad was terrific. Must have something to do about growing up in a farm…

Heading out.

Hardluck and Raygun’s dad blocking an illegal trail with wood.

Hardluck busy.

Biff at work.

Biff, Bigdouggiedoug, and CADavebert.

GTKrockeTT, Biff, and Bigdouggiedoug.

Trail successfully blocked.

Fence work by Jeshua.

Trash pickup.

GTKrockett put a huge log on his FJ.

Example of illegal trail. These trails damage the existing fauna.

Instead of breaking up into groups, we stayed together and got through the sections quickly.

Signage added and another trail blocked. I believe we probably blocked about 12 trails.

CADavebert putting up a carbonite sign.

CADavebert and Biff. Get the message? I hope so!

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

The hill climb section received the most signs. Our work is not done there and we’ll return again to add barriers. So far the signs should send a clear message. 2 large posts with “sensitive species” were put in to discourage travelers. “No Motor Vehicles” signs were also added.

GTKrockett, Bigdouggiedoug, Jeshua, and Greg.

Looking good fellas! CADavebert, Hardluck, Pinky, raYGunn, and GTKrockett.


The major illegal hill climb area is large and difficult to contain. It’s the focus of our efforts. We have some ideas about barriers and reseeding. We’re looking forward to our next trip.

Lemmy_K negotiating a fun section.

Signage added. You can’t stop them all, but we hope to make the point clear that they are breaking the law if they continue on.

Significant fencing work was done. We hope these repairs will last a while.

There was a vehicle that was abandoned on top of a hill the last time CADavebert took a group out there. It’s since been pushed off the hill and into a big rut. We’ll have to deal with this. Maybe a Sawzall or extraction, but we haven’t decided on what to do. It will be reported to the ranger however.

Pinky doing his thing. Lol

 

[Hovsepdov]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

I think im gona go back there and bring that thing home its a sweet ride! LOL

[/quote]
Pinky doing his thing. lol

[/quote]

 

[Hovsepdov]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

Hey guys had a great time on Friday and Saturday... Here is the story in Pics.

Here is the cabin we can use when ever we need to go out to clean the trail.
Thats FJamming and I parked out front.

The place where all your AAT dreams come true.

But watch out for the old building a witch lives there.

This is the kitchen in the cabin comes with everything you need
an oven, a microwave, a fridge, and a ghost?
Tony trapped it in the cabinet.

The living room we had our air mattresses set up for the cold night ahead.

and the last room in the cabin

here we are getting ready for a cold night
L to R Greg, Joe (Pinky), Josh (Jeshua), Tony (Fjamming)

Next day convoy to the campground to meet up with the group

We finally make it to our trail and the first thing my brother
does is step on a lizard. Here I am holding the tail.

Josh's truck and my FJ at the head of the trail.

This guy was trying to attack us while we blocked an illegal trail.

but we blocked the trail before he could get to us

Rayguns dad flexin his muscles

we didnt know how to block this trail

then a bunch of our guys offered to post themselves in the way of the illegal trail. What heart and dedication!

that bag was full of all kinds of neat things buy the end of the day!

Here we are blocking the illegal hill climb

The guy in the back there came over the mountain to yell at us for blockin his drive way with our sweat signs.

Josh and I never made it past 1st grade and so we dont know how to read

The view... whos head is that?

Josh is such a POSER

Group photo during lunch 1:38PM

The Incident 3:12PM

 

[Hovsepdov]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

Told Josh if he wants our help he must smile!

Oh and it was bad

Lets get to work. Tony secures him with his winch.

then he comes down and they assess the situation

Then the Fender comes off

ARB X Jack is put in place... later moved to the side of the truck

Tony and I headed out to see if we could reach someone by phone to lend us a welder. On our way we saw this guy.

I offered to tow him up the hill but he said he would ride it out?

Thats all Ive got oh and according to Josh's post in the AAT thread they got the truck fixed around 10:30 and they drove it out.

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

Nice shots Pinky

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

Unfortunately near Deep Creek hot springs , Jeshua’s truck had a breakdown. The A-arm metal fatigued and sheered off. The axel got pulled out. Since this is not a stock part, replacement was not an option. This occurred at 3:30(?)pm and the temperature was a breezy 41 degrees. We first tried the nearby Bowen Ranch. Unfortunately the one person with welding ability was not around. Bigdouggiedoug then took Josh down the mountain and into Apple Valley to see if they can get it welded or get a portable welder from Sears. The group is wonderful and I’m extremely proud of everyone that was there that day. Everyone did what they could to help the situation. Almost everyone stayed for as long as possible to see if the repair can be done and no one complained. At around 5:30pm, the group divided into 2 and a group that had to leave was lead out. raYGunn left his ARB X-Jack for us to use (awesome product). It made the repair much easier and safer. There was no way to safely work on the truck if not for the X-Jack. Fast, easy, and safe. Hardluck left us some dried goods. Those that stayed certainly appreciated! We were hungry and a little cold when sun went down and these definitely helped. They were yummy too. Thanks Hardluck! Cell phone reception was nonexistent so communication was difficult. We had to hike up a hill to get signal. As the night fall, the temperature dropped into 20s. Since this is right near the hot springs, all sorts of characters show up. Things happen in the dark. I wish I had a gun. I was very glad to have CADavebert and Biff in company. Great conversations of misspent youth made the time go by faster.

Jeshua found someone at the Autozone who took him to a friend’s house and got the problem part welded. Bigdouggiedoug returned with Jeshua at around 8:30 and got to work right away. When parts break catastrophically, often more then one part is affected. In this case, some threads were damaged and making re-installation very difficult. Getting creative with what tools we have eventually allowed us to cobber it back up together and limped the vehicle off the trail. Josh, you got mad skills. I wouldn’t have been able to make the repairs you made. It was not a problem to have you stay the night at my parent’s place. Making the drive back to Hemet that night would be unthinkable. I’m glad you accepted the offer.

Doug, you’re just a great guy all around! Dave, I’m always glad to have you around. You’re always organized and efficient. Victor (Biff), it was great to know you. We’ve met at the last AAT event, but I didn’t get to know you due to the size of the group (32 FJs?). Next time, promise me you’ll bring at least one of the many great guns you have? :lol:

Here are the pics!

Truck loaded up and going home .

 

[GTKrockeTT]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

man, it looks like i missed out on all the "fun."

3n59A...when i used to joke about it being a trail a civic can do, is certainly turning out to have quite the personality. what's the deal with "things happen in the dark?" and, Victor...not packing? WOW!

 

[Biff]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

It was a long day, defientely wasn't as prepared as I should have been, I had minimal worm clothing, and no toys to keep us company, way to many weird people coming out. Good thing I had Tony, and Dave as backup. Either way felt good helping out, told Josh, to pass it on for the next situation.

 

[CADavebert]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

After the sun went down, there was a newer jeep with an exo-cage that came up. He was asking about how to get out, and didn't want to go back, or forward, as both had some challenging spots. Then, a red pickup with an unusually hyper guy driving, and two people in the bed of the truck with blankets. They tried to go up the hill on the other side, but then came back and sat parked at the parking area by the trail to the springs. Then, I heard some foot steps, and hit the lights. There were 4 kids coming down the hill trying to find out how to get to their car that was parked on Bowen Ranch.

Not positive, but pretty sure that if we'd left the truck, there would have been parts missing by morning.

 

[Hanselhoff]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

After the sun went down, there was a newer jeep with an exo-cage that came up. He was asking about how to get out, and didn't want to go back, or forward, as both had some challenging spots. Then, a red pickup with an unusually hyper guy driving, and two people in the bed of the truck with blankets. They tried to go up the hill on the other side, but then came back and sat parked at the parking area by the trail to the springs. Then, I heard some foot steps, and hit the lights. There were 4 kids coming down the hill trying to find out how to get to their car that was parked on Bowen Ranch.

Not positive, but pretty sure that if we'd left the truck, there would have been parts missing by morning.

Ya think? Actually, the truck woild have beeen an empty shell on cinder blocks. Wherever those came from.

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

In regards to the abandoned vehicle...
I think we need to get back out and extract the vehicle. The weather is only going to get worse and it may not be long before we get snow. It would be much easier to drag it out now since it still has tires. Once those are removed, it's going to be a beast.

The problem we have now is we don't have a flat bed trailer that we can get out there. If someone can loan a flatbed, we'd appreciate it! Once the vehicle is out, what can we do with it? Sell it to scarp yard? Does it technically still belong to someone?

 

[FJ-Piper]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

In regards to the abandoned vehicle...
I think we need to get back out and extract the vehicle. The weather is only going to get worse and it may not be long before we get snow. It would be much easier to drag it out now since it still has tires. Once those are removed, it's going to be a beast.

The problem we have now is we don't have a flat bed trailer that we can get out there. If someone can loan a flatbed, we'd appreciate it! Once the vehicle is out, what can we do with it? Sell it to scarp yard? Does it technically still belong to someone?

You did get the VIN, RIGHT??? hans or Dave can look it up if you did.

 

[Fjamming]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

I believe when CADavebert took the group out last time they looked it up and it was clean.

 

[CADavebert]

Re: 10/11/08 - AAT maintenance run

Yep. Hans checked it. At the time, it was not reported stolen.


My "guess" is that some intelligent inDUHvidual drove down that hill, and could not get back up. They could not afford to get it back out, so they just left it. There are probably some rules we have to follow on this, as it does still probably have an owner.